Search for new expressway director begins

Orlando's road-building agency hopes to have a new director by year's end to replace the one that the board forced to resign.

So far, 20 people have applied for the $200,000-plus-a-year post, including state Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando.

Board members Scott Batterson and Marco Pena stop short of supporting Precourt after a meeting Thursday of the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority.

"I think we should have a robust search," said Pena, who with Batterson and Noranne Downs voted to oust Max Crumit, whose last day was Monday.

Batterson declined comment, and Downs did not attend the meeting because of a family illness. Precourt has not returned Orlando Sentinel calls and emails requesting comment.

Board members hope to have a short list of candidates by November, allowing them to conduct interviews and select a winner no later than December.

Crumit was routinely lauded by the board for his work during his two years on the job but fell into disfavor with Pena, who works at Florida Hospital.

Pena argued Crumit might be approaching vendors of the authority seeking a new job, creating a possible conflict of interest for him and the agency.

Crumit denied that, although he had never made it a secret that he would not stay indefinitely at the authority and intended to return to his previous career in consulting.

Agency Chairman Walter Ketcham has accused Batterson, Pena and Downs of breaking the law by discussing the former director's employment among themselves and through intermediaries before voting against him during an August meeting.

State Attorney Jeff Ashton has indicated he would investigate whether the trio violated Florida's Government in the Sunshine laws, which ban elected officials and members of public boards from talking about agency matters in private. Conviction could result in up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

In other news Thursday, the board as expected approved a 99-year land lease for the All Aboard Florida train along the southern edge of the BeachLine Expressway.

That allows the Coral Gables-based company to build tracks from Cocoa to Orlando International Airport, where it signed an agreement Wednesday for a depot and maintenance facility. A parent company already owns track to Miami.

In total, All Aboard will pay the expressway $20 million for the land, toll revenue lost to motorists riding the train and the extra expense of reconfiguring a BeachLine interchange with the International Corporate Park property near the airport to accommodate the system.

Construction could start late this year or early next on the privately financed, $1.5 billion project.